The alien invasion has officially begun. MTV News' intrepid movie guy Josh Horowitz recently braved the punishing heat (and extra-terrestrial threat) of New Mexico to visit the set of the big-screen adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's best-selling novel, "The Host." While there, he spoke with the author herself, as well as stars Saoirse Ronan and Max Irons to get a taste of the theatrical treat awaiting fans next year.

"The Host" tells the story of human Melanie, whose body is taken over by alien Wanderer. Except, while the interloper inhabits her body, she hasn't been able to completely take over her mind, meaning both must co-exist. A bereft Melanie convinces Wanderer to help her track down her lost love Jared (Max) and her family to insure they're safe, while putting themselves at risk.

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For author Stephenie, seeing her vision come to life in such a grand scale has been a thrill.

"It was so awesome," Stephenie enthused. "The cave set was enormous, it was vast, they're just so cool, so much fun to walk on. It was kind of like someone built something out of your imagination just for you."

Of course, it wouldn't be a Stephenie Meyer production without a fraught romance at its center, which Max took a few minutes to explain: "Jared's struggle is when Melanie returns, she was the love of his life and he lost her, but then she walks back into his life. He wants to hold her, but the rational part of his mind is saying she needs to be killed."

We'll have to wait until the movie hits theaters in March 2013, to learn what Jared decides, but in the meantime, click play on the video above to hear from star Saoirse and sneak peek the nifty cave set.

How excited are you for "The Host"? What do you think of this first look? Sound off in the comments and on Twitter!